Sunday, July 17, 2016

Goobernatorial.

When Reagan's two terms were up, George Bush ran one of the easiest presidential campaigns of all time, in effect saying "If you liked Reagan, voting for his Veep would basically be asking for a second helping of the same." Of course, it didn't turn out like that and my memories of the Elder Bush administration mostly involve feeling a vague sense of disappointment.

Similarly, the previous Republican governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, was the sort of dull Cincinnatus too rare in public office these days, and the GOP replacement was offered up on a platform of "Hey, if you liked the last Republican governor, why not vote for this guy and get more of the same?"

And for the last four years I've had a vague feeling of disappointment. Now the guy has been offered a bucket of warm piss by Trump and accepted. On a forum, someone asked what I thought about our governor...

Pence? Not a bad governor. A little more of a Social Conservative than
I'd like, but it's not like it didn't say so right on the package. Solid
on guns and fiscal matters. A+ NRA rating and actually followed through
on campaign promises to lower taxes. Too eager to spend time
rearranging the Gays-'N'-'Bortion deck chairs on the S.S. GOPtanic, but
that's endemic.
B+: Would have a beer with him and his wife; they seem like nice people.
(ETA: The selection of Pence...indeed, none of the three VP
finalists...does nothing to dispel the notion that Trump is only in this
for the yuks and wants to throw it to Hils. After RFRA and a recent
abortion bill, Pence's approval ratings here in Indiana are at ~40% and
he was facing a tough election against a sad-sack Democratic candidate
who should have been a walkover. Neither Pence, Christie, nor Gingrich
could reliably deliver the electoral votes of their respective home
states, which is considered kind of a key job of the VP pick.)

So, he's got the homo-hatin' and 'bortion-banning chops that the Trump candidacy lacked and I guess is on the ticket to keep the hardcore SoCons from staying home in disgust on election day. We'll see..